Bills imposing taxation or appropriating revenue must not originate in the Senate, and neither taxation bills nor bills appropriating revenue for the annual service of the government may be amended in the Senate, but the Senate may return such bills to the House of Representatives with a request for their amendment.

Lowe was a rather cut-anddry economist, who prided himself that during his four years of office he took twelve millions off taxation; but later opinion has hardly accepted his removal of the shilling registration duty on corn (1869) as good statesmanship, and his failures are remembered rather than his successes.